KEEP CALM

The royal baby’s birth probably cost about $18,000 in the fanciest wing of a private British hospital, and he’s third in line for the throne. While some griped about the expense, compare it with the average cost of giving birth in the U.S.: $30,000 for a natural birth and $50,000 for a C-section. Insurance covers about $18,000 to $27,000 fo the cost. New York Times reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal brought attention to the issue by tweeting “What’s wrong here?” and linking to her article earlier this month about the high cost of chilldbirth in the U.S.

STICKER SHOCK

Want to have a baby? Be prepared to cough up the dough. It’s getting more and more expensive to give birth in the United States, making it the costliest in the world, according to The New York Times. Delivery costs have tripled since 1996, and maternity and newborn care are the single-biggest category of hospital payouts for insurers. The cumulative cost (for around 4 million annual births) is more than $50 billion. Twenty years ago, women were paying nothing other than a small fee for a private room or television. Today, more than 60 percent of women with private plans (not obtained through an employer) do not have maternity coverage. According to the report, even women with insurance are pressured into higher co-payments and deductibles, although they’re not getting more care.

Rubbers

PATH, an international global health nonprofit, launched a contest asking filmmakers to create short films promoting the use of female condoms, calling them “one of the most promising health technologies that people don’t know or hear much about.” Asked to use sex-positive messages and the template “Female condoms are…” for a title, 12 finalists now have their films on YouTube. The films range from the serious (a mother explaining to her daughter why the female condom will empower her) to the silly (human sperm rushing down a hallway only to be blocked by plastic wrap). There’s even one called “Female Condoms Wre for Dudes, Too.” A winner will be announced in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today.

Overzealous

A majority of physicians would like that their female patients be screened for cervical cancer more frequently than the American Cancer Society's guidelines recommend. While the ACS suggests women with normal Pap tests and negative HPV results wait five years before their next tests, 70 to 84 percent of about 500 physicians surveyed said they would recommend that patients get tested less than three years after such results. Less than 10 percent of doctors in almost all scenarios would suggest that their patients wait longer than the ACP's recommended time for a rescreening.

I had a simple case of congestion and needed some antibiotics to kick the symptoms, so my college health center had referred me to the local urgent care facility. After a 30-minute wait in a chilly examination room, a doctor came in and, without introducing himself, asked what was bothering me. When I’d finished sniffling my way through the list, he nodded, grunted, and asked me if I was experiencing anything else.